Greenhouse Insulation

As youve seen, I used that plastic stuff you see on greenhouses for the walls of my system. I bought a bunch of 3 millimeter single layer plastic, as opposed to 6 millimeter or double layered. Why not the fancy stuff? Because the 3 mil stuff is cheaper.

They sell plastic that is two layers, which inflate so they dont touch. This creates a pocket of air between two pieces of plastic, acting as insulation. I built the poor mans version out of extra pvc pipe and pvc clips.

Thats a 3" piece of pvc you see taped onto the "rib" of the greenhouse. I didnt clip the plastic directly to the rib, for fear of the two layers touching. Once they touch, insulation is lost (according to some random person on reddit).

Its hard to see, but here it is with two layers of plastic up.

I will be installing one or two 300 watt aquarium heaters next week sometime. My hope is that by heating the water, the greenhouse will stay warmer. Ill keep the thermostat set in the upper 60s to start and experiment from there. I believe that keeping the plants roots warm via the water will make up for less than ideal air temperatures in the greenhouse, although the air should stay considerably warmer thanks to this insulation and the 300 or so gallons of heated water. Maybe Ill get crazy and make a graph, you know, for science.

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